Digipack.

The Digipack makes an essential part of the bands image and is the final frontier of the distribution process. The image and or literature situated on the media text are normally the consumers’ last contact before purchase. The front cover consists of an image of the band in front of a metal grid. They are rugged; they are tired; they are the imploding paradigm of the carefree, rebellious youth culture. Theorist Richard Dyer illustrates the fact that the bands ‘star image’ is sold through the creative elements in such articles as the Digipack. Here are the other elements that were carefully constructed to meet the supply and demand nature of the music business and elevate the band to stardom:

A page solely dedicated to absurdist artist Ralph Steadman and the father of Gonzo Journalism and key member of the creative and maddening thunderstorm that was ‘the Sixties’: Hunter S. Thompson. According to Richard Dyer, demonstrating the bands affinity for H.S.T and Ralph Steadman conveys not only their rebellious nature, but also their creative side; attracting audiences but also presenting themselves with star quality.

The track list page comprising of a still image taken from erratic party scene they were involved with and such song titles as ‘The whole of the law’ and ‘Language problem’. These factors help demonstrate the bands free spirit and rebellious nature.

And finally: On the biography page, a dark yet thoughtful image of the lead singer; his head almost bowed whilst he thrives with a microphone. This enhances the sensitive, creative and human nature of the lead singer, stating that past the oblivion of sex and drugs, still lives a human being, one with an urge to perform to the world.

Magazine Advert.

The magazine ad is a vital landmark in our advertisement campaign that is constructed to establish the band within the industry as a young and boisterous group boasting ebullient creativity. Theorist Richard Dyer explains how the bands elements of the star image are sold through the creative choices made when building the media text; therefore stating that the creative aspects of the magazine ad must be innovative, exciting and aesthetically pleasing to ensure optimum interest and ‘buzz’.

Several aspects of this magazine ad portray the band as a rebellious, fun loving force to be reckoned with. The handguns placed bellow the band name are a symbol that convey a million messages but when correlating with the band name and image, they demonstrate passion, vision and fire, three key elements behind the bands arch-image.

The image of the band members portray a group that are “young, beautiful and stupid” – a quote taken directly from the cult mod film ‘Quadrophenia’, a piece that successfully captures the zeitgeist of a time and culture the band are attempting to reincarnate.

TASK 1 - In what ways do your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

A necessary ladder to climb when creating our pop video, was to research and evaluate the major conventions of pop video and, make decisions on the possible imitation or subversion of these conventions. Keith Negus (established media theorist) has identified thirteen major conventions that are evident within pop videos. 11 of which have been manifested bellow:

The explicit and unashamed promotion of the artist’s “image” (aesthetic/generic/ideological) as a specific product with a brand identity, ready for mass consumption

The featuring of the artist (almost without exception)

A wide and extensive use of shot types, camera angles and movement

Repetition of reoccurring thematic elements and generically specific iconography (one key element often being dominant and providing the skeletal structure for the promo)

A possible narrative structure

A possible performance element

The flexibility to disregard Realism!

Shots cut tightly to the beat of the track

Use of special effects (lighting, animation, CGIs, in-camera effects)

A carefully constructed Mise en Scene appropriate to the content and tone of the track.

Instant high impact

To make sure that we agreed with Negus, we researched and analysed various pop videos of similar style to our group. These included; Ian Dury and the Blockheads, The Sex Pistols and other bands of that era. We also looked at the famous Martin Scorcse documentary that followed Bob Dylan on one of his earlyer tours, and also his recent Rolling Stones documentary.

We decided we wanted to do two things with our pop video. The first, in the performance; was to follow Negus' conventions of high impact, cutting to the beat, following the rule of thirds etc.. But, in the narrative, which would follow the guys in the band on tour; we wanted a grittyer feel to it, and so used a documentary-style with hand held camera, longer shots and natrul light. In the manner of observational documentary, as outlined by the theorist Alan Hayling, former head of documentaries at the BBC.

Imitating or subverting these conventions will give pleasure the audience in two contradistinctive conditions; according to film theorist Barthes. The first of which is labelled ‘plaisir’ and it entails the act of giving an audience pleasure through the expected. In contrast to this, ‘jouissance’ is when the audience are pleasured through the unexpected which, in this case; through a subversion of media conventions.

The message conveyed through ‘Another Girl, Another Planet’ is primarily a new wave group who, through their distaste of society and institutional order, hope to break formal barriers and encourage joyous and anarchic activity among audiences mainly aged fifteen to twenty five. The video is also constructed to portray their electric creativity and willingness to live their lives with no initial thought of consequence. They are heavily influenced of the punk, new wave and rock n roll bands of the sixties and seventies which is signified through their fashion style and musical direction.

We chose to imitate all conventions relating to the original rock and roll/punk bands of a nineteen sixty’s London. There outfits, all of which are ragged and torn, show their disregard for formal attire and hygiene. This shot also imitates the convention of a performance element, one where the band performs in a make believe dimension (usually a setting that resonates with their personal style, in this case: an urban street of hallucinogenic proportions) in order to promote the band in their ideal environment. This exhibits their personalities not only though their mannerisms, musical creation and style, but through the constructed area where they are placed, proving to be yet another tool at our disposal. The lighting of the shot was chosen because it was thought to be aesthetically pleasing if not something that appears to have spawned from a ‘drug trip’.

The party scene was shot ‘hand held’ imitating the convention of a narrative structure but also ostensibly giving the audience the eyes of one of the party goers: a ‘point of view shot’. This encourages the audience to relate to the bands ideals and enforces one of the bands main goals which was to promote the erratic party life-style and therefore spread anarchy. “I am an anarchist!” – Sid Vicious, the Sex Pistols.

Conforming to the convention that is the explicit and unashamed promotion of the artists’ image was done through another narrative element; behind the scenes ‘documentary’ style footage of the band on tour. One shot shows a band member sleeping on the tour bus, conveying the hard work that the band also incorporates into their lives, that makes them so tired and a shot of London, demonstrating the areas and journeys they travel/travel to on a daily basis.

TASK 4 - A director’s commentary on how I used new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages.

New media technology is a broad term that encompass the mixture of traditional media such as film, images, music, spoken and written word, with the bilateral power of computer and communications technology, computer-enabled consumer devices and most importantly the Internet. New media technologies hold out a possibility of on-demand access to content any time, anywhere, on any digital device, as well as associated user feedback, creative participation and communal formation around the media content. It was necessary to apply my strengthening knowledge and ability with such technologies in all stages of the process; whether it be construction, research, planning, post-production, distribution or planning!

The process began researching relating themes to the bands image virally and presenting the proposition on a PowerPoint slide show; both methods a department of new media technologies. Once the idea was in place, we continued to use the internet to research other themes and conventions due to its gargantuan if not endless amount of material. The cameras we used on the shoot were digital meaning we could play back any previous shots taken unlike in our earlier projects such as the ‘Thriller’. Post production consisted of editing the turbulent material into a clean-cut three minutes media text. We used final cut pro as our editing software. This all contributed to the form of the pop video primarily due to the efficiency digital technology applies to the process. We were able to move quickly and cleanly through the editing stage and even the shoot because the technology allowed us to meaning e were given a prominent amount of creative freedom in these stages.

Theoretically in the distribution process, new media technologies would be used because it creates a “two-way dialogue with consumers primarily through the internet”. Being fully aware that the advertising industry has capitalized on the proliferation of new media with large agencies running multi-million dollar interactive advertising subsidiaries, we would choose to conform by activating our own viral advertisement campaign and eventually distribute the media text online on such ‘cyber stores’ as Itunes.

New media technologies contributed to the function of the video by allowing us to reach our creative goals and therefore successfully inform and entertain an audience.